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Watch Tower, Earth's Orbit
J'onn was overseeing Batman care in the advanced medical wing of the Watch Tower, Alucard had been correct when he had said that Batman was bleeding internally and accurate in where he was injured. Thanks to the advanced medical equipment he had been able to stabilise the caped crusaders injuries fairly quickly and now Batman would make a full recovery.
While it was good that J'onn had been able to save his human friend he felt quietly as Batman should not have been injured in the first place.
"This is my fault, Batman nearly died because of me," J'onn sighed as he looked over the monitors.
"If I wasn't so weak…I should have been better prepared," J'onn claimed.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Batman groan, J'onn walked back over to him.
"You're awake, good," J'onn said.
Batman pushed himself up, he ignored the pain from his injures and sat up, he looked at J'onn.
"What happened?" Batman asked.
"You were injured in battle, I brought you back to the Watch Tower for treatment," J'onn answered.
"What about Le Fey?" Batman asked urgently.
"Alucard and Etrigan went after them," J'onn claimed "they were going to meet up with Wonder Woman and Flash at Harvs mansion. They have not returned yet,"
Batman nodded in understating, he then noticed that there was book on the bedside table. He reached over and picked it up.
"What's this?" Batman asked.
"Alucard picked that up at Henrys place, he asked that I bring it back with us," J'onn claimed "He said it was important,"
"Did he say why?" Batman asked.
J'onn shook his head, Batman read the back of the book curious as to why the vampire would consider it important; finding nothing of particular interest he put the book back on the table and tried to get up but J'onn stopped him.
"You shouldn't be moving, you need your rest," J'onn claimed.
"I'm fine," Batman claimed, though it was clear he wasn't.
"Batman…I'm sorry," J'onn said.
"For what?" Batman asked.
"You were injured because of me. Morgan…she keeps showing me my home and my family on mars," J'onn claimed.
"It's not real, you know that," Batman said.
"I do but I have not seen them in so long. You can't understand the loneliness I feel. Even though I know it is a mere illusion I want it to be with them…I want it be real so badly,"
"If you want to talk about extinct species, talk to Superman when he gets back. He can help you deal with it better than anyone," Batman advised.
J'onn was going to respond but his com link came to life.
"Watch Tower….yes…alright I'll be down," J'onn responded into his com link.
"What is it?" Batman asked.
"The others want to be picked up, I'm going to take the Javelin down to earth to get them," J'onn claimed.
"I'll come with you," Batman said.
"No you need to rest," J'onn said and walked out.
Batman waited until the martin was gone before he got out of bed and got dressed.
J'onn headed to the Javelin bay and launched the League s plane; he flew it down to earth where the Wonder Woman's signal had come from. He was very surprised and concerned to see Alucard tied up in the Amazons lasso and snarling at him but after an explanation of what happened he understood the need to keep the vampire restrained.
Once everyone was on board J'onn took them all back up to the Watch Tower; Batman was there to greet them once the Javelin docked.
"Your back," Batman said "Did you get the stone?"
"Yep another world ending crisis avoided curtesy of the Justice League ," Flash smiled and held up the Philosophers Stone.
Batman scowled at him.
"You should be resting," J'onn claimed.
"I'm fine," Batman claimed "Where's Wonder Woman?"
"She's…uh…struggling with our…um…guest," Flash said.
"Guest?" Batman asked and raised his eyebrow.
Suddenly Alucards restrained form flew out of the Javelin and across the landing bay. He slammed into the cold metal floor. Alucard growled and managed to sit up just in time for Wonder Woman to walk up to him and slammed the vampires face into the metal floor of the space station again.
"Behave," she demanded.
Alucard gave a low growl in response.
Batman raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing.
"That seemed…a little excessive," J'onn stated.
"He tried to bite me," Wonder Woman claimed.
"He didn't though…right?" Flash asked.
"No, thankfully he can't do much other than thrash around with the Lasso of truth binding him," Wonder Woman said.
"What happened to him?" Batman asked, coming over and looking at Alucard.
Alucard snapped at him and Batman reflexively jerked back.
"He was fighting in the mud and then he tasted blood," Etrigan said in a low growl.
"Blood?" Batman asked glancing at the demon.
"Yeah that crazy witch summoned some giant demon animals and Alucard went into a blood rage," Flash explained "He hasn't snapped out of it yet,"
"But he didn't attack any of you did he?" Batman asked.
"No, he mainly focused on the massive beasts but once he was done with them he came after us…but Diana caught him with her magic lasso," Flash explained.
"We brought him back here to see if we could turn him back to normal," Wonder Woman finished.
"You're wasting your time, this is normal for a vampire. Anything you have seen before was an act," Etrigan said "A ploy to gain your trust and that is a fact,"
"We'll still try," Wonder Woman declared. She then turned to look at the Martian "J'onn can you try and pull him out if it?"
"Why are you wasting your time him? We must secure the stone or are you all so dim?" Etrigan urged.
"We can do two things at once," Flash argued.
"Agreed, Flash and Etrigan will follow me to the vaults to secure the stone. Diana and J'onn can work on bringing Alucard back to his senses," Batman claimed.
"He is a violent and dangerous creature of the night and must be killed. How many times must I say this," Etrigan urged "Now is a chance you cannot miss,"
Wonder Woman ignored Etrigan and she dragged Alucard away, he went with her unwilling and still snarling and thrashing about. Alucard really had no choice as he could not break the Lasso of truth and J'onn followed them.
Batman led flash and Etrigan down to one of the Watchtowers vaults, Batman explained that the vault blocked all kinds of energy and anything inside could not be detected, he also claimed that not even Superman would be able to see what was inside as the vault was lined with lead.
"I'd like to see Le Fey try and get the stone now," Flash said, once the stone was sealed inside the vault.
"Be careful what you wish for, give her the chance and Le Fay will march through the front door," Etrigan warned.
"Come on, you think that an ancient witch can come up into space?" Flash asked.
"Do not think that Space will stop Le Fey from showing her face," Etrigan responded "She has pursued this stone for centuries and will not so easily give up the chase,"
"Lighten up would you, the stones locked up, we saved the world. Job done, now I'm going to go get some victory Iced Mochas," Flash said and sped off before anyone could stop him.
"He's an idiot," Etrigan commented.
"Yes he is," Batman agreed and started to walk off.
"If you know he's a dim-witted fool why do you keep him around?" Etrigan asked as he followed "or dose he make an effective tool?
Batman didn't respond, he just kept walking. Batman and Etrigan walked into the main control room where they found Alucard tied to a create with the Lasso of truth and J'onn and Diana were a short distance away.
J'onn looked weak and was sitting on a chair with Diana trying to comfort him; Alucard was still snarling and hissing at them.
"Are you alright?" Batman asked in concern as he came over.
"Yes…his mind was harder to enter than most and not a place I should have gone," J'onn said.
"Why what was in there?" Batman asked.
"Darkness…and pure bloodlust," J'onn said gravely "it nearly over whelmed me. But I did get one thing…a name,"
"What was it?" Batman asked.
Batman knew that names had power, they were always important. If the name J'onn took from Alucards mind was of someone important to the vampire than perhaps they could use it to bring him around.
"Dracula," J'onn said.
Batman, Etrigan and Diana stared at him for a second in surprise.
"Wait…like the vampire movies we watched?" Diana asked.
"Indeed, it would appear that Alucard may be connected to them in some way," J'onn claimed.
"Well he is a vampire…maybe he saw those movies and decided to be like Dracula," Diana suggested "After all Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards,"
"I doubt it, he would have been asleep when the Dracula novel was written and the first Dracula film was made a good 100 years after that," Batman reminded.
"So a real live vampire has a connection to the fictional one…that doesn't make sense," Diana said.
"Unless the fictional one was actually based on him," Batman said thoughtfully.
"But then would he have not tried to kill all the male members of the Justice League and make Diana and Hawkgirl into his undead brides," J'onn asked.
"Maybe…" Batman said thoughtfully. Suspicions and theories were already forming in his head and none of them were good.
"Whatever the reason it will have to wait until Alucard can talk to us again," J'onn said "I am going to go rest,"
J'onn stood up and walked out.
"You need to kill him," Etrigan said.
"Who Alucard or J'onn?" Batman asked.
"Both," Etrigan answered.
Before Batman could respond the lights began to flicker, everyone in the room looked up as they went out for a few seconds before the emergency lights came on.
"That's not supposed to happen," Batman stated.
Suddenly Flash zoomed in.
"Hey what's going on with the lights?" Flash asked.
Suddenly an army of monsters appeared in the room, there was a mix of sizes but all of them had a weapon of some form and was wearing amour. The creatures had grey and dark paled green skin they had a verity of weapons, the big tall ones had swords and maces, the small ones had bows and arrows and the bulky ones had Morningstar's.
All of them growled and hissed and approached the League with their weapons drawn.
"Never mind, I think I just figured it out," Flash said.
The monsters charged at the League and the heroes began to defend themselves but as it turned out that these creatures were as deadly as they were ugly. Etrigan blasted them with magic and hellfire; he did his best to keep the creatures from getting too close but it wasn't working. Batman, Wonder Woman and Flash were quickly pushed into a corner while Alucard merely snarled at the creatures and struggled to break free from the heavenly lasso.
Despite the their best efforts the League was no match for the creatures as they kept coming out of the portal and did not seem to stop or end.
"Damn it where the hell is J'onn?" Wonder Woman hissed as the Martian had not yet come to their aid.
"He's gone after the Stone, I knew he should not be left alone," Etrigan said.
"No he wouldn't abandon us," Flash said as he punched one of the creatures in the jaw.
"You fiool these are mere distractions, meant to keep our attention. Your friend has gone to take the stone to Le Fey, so she can have her way," Etirgan claimed.
"So how do we stop this army?" Batman demanded.
"You don't, they will keep coming. They may be mortal, but you need shut down the portal," Etrigan replied as he blasted some magic energy into a few of the creatures.
"How do we do that?" Batman asked.
"By finding Le Fay and forcing her to shut it down or send them away," Etrigan claimed.
"Oh and here I thought it was going to be hard...silly me," Flash joked.
"This is no time for jokes," Etrigan scolded "Focus on fighting these folks,"
They continued to fight off the never ending orc army but it was clear to Batman they would not be ending the fight anytime soon. He looked around to see that Flash had been caught by three of the monsters, Wonder Woman and Etrigan were holding their own but they were in no condition to aid him or Flash.
"Damn it...we need help," Batman hissed.
Batman's eyes then landed on Alucard who was still struggling against the lasso of truth. Seeing no other option Batman used his grappling hook and it latched on two the ceiling and he swung over the hoard and landed behind Alucard; he began to untie the vampire.
"What are you doing?!" Etrigan yelled when he saw Batman "STOP!"
But it was too late the moment the lasso was loosened Alucard sprung onto the nearest creature and bit into its neck; drinking him dry of all his blood. Once he was done the Alucard dropped the creature and turned to look at Batman. He gave a low hiss before he tackled Batman to the ground.
Batman grunted as landing on his back had aggravated his previous injuries and tried to push the vampire off him but Alucard would not budge. Batman looked up into Alucard red eyes.
"Alucard stop...I'm not your food," Batman tried.
Alucard showed no signs of recognition or understanding of what Batman was saying, he leaned in closer with his fangs beard. Batman began to panic as he could feel the vampires breathe as he panted hungrily and leaned in closer with his mouth open and Batman felt the tips of his fangs on his neck.
However that is as far as they went because suddenly Alucard stopped and his eyes widened as they flickered back to yellow for a split second. Alucard suddenly let go of Batman and gripped his head with his hands and shook his head.
"No...No I won't...I won't do it..." Alucard said.
"Alucard?" Batman asked confused.
"No...you can't make me...I'm not like the others...I'm not like him….I won't be like him," Alucard said as he got off Batman and took a few steps back.
Batman was confused it looked like Alucard was fighting something in his mind; maybe there was something deep in Alucards subconscious that had forced him to become feral or Le Fay had gotten into his mind the same way she had gotten to J'onn. Unfortunately one of the creatures took advantage of Batman's distraction and raised his Axe.
Batman looked behind him just as the creature brought the Axe down. Alucards eyes snapped open and he instantly appeared next to the caped crusader and grabbed the creatures' wrist stopping the blade right above Batman's head; he glared at the creature.
"That is not nice," Alucard said.
He raised the creatures arm and applied some pressure to the creature's wrist and the weapon fell from his hand and Alucard caught it in his free hand before throwing the axe into the nearest creature's chest.. He then lifted the creature and threw him over into the hoard that was focused on Wonder Woman giving the amazon a brief opening to gain some ground and fight back.
Alucard brought his hands together and small sparks of black energy gathered in between his hands.
"împinge înapoi,"(1) Alucard said as he spread his hands apart.
A force of pure energy was unleashed and everything in the room was blown away into the opposite walls and small sparks of energy held them in place; the only ones not affected by this force was the League .
"Magic...He has magic too?" Etrigan gasped.
The force holding the creatures back faded and they dropped back to floor, they picked up there weapons and began to make there way back over to the League .
"Go, quickly while you can. I'll handle them," Alucard said as he drew his sword. He used his free hand to grip one side of his head and let out a painful hiss.
"What's going on….what's wrong?" Flash asked.
"I don't know how long I can stay in control...leave now before I turn on you again," Alucard said.
"Control...what do you mean?" Wonder Woman demanded.
"I'll explain later just go...stop Le Fay before it's too late," Alucard said.
"Come on let's go," Etrigan urged as he ran out of the room and was followed by Wonder Woman
"But..." Flash started.
Alucard turned to Flash and Batman noticed the vampires eyes were flickering from yellow back to red.
"Flash please…go" Alucard pleaded as red was very quickly becoming the dominant colour.
"Let's go," Batman said and he ran out of the room.
Flash hesitated for a second and then followed his friends and Batman sealed the door behind him.
Once they were gone Alucard turned back to face the approaching army.
"Right….now where was I?" Alucard asked as his eyes went back to a blood red.
Several Hours Later
The Javelin landed in the landing bay of the Watch Tower and once the ramp had lowered the Justice League walked out. They had been successful in stopping Morgan Le Fay and J'onn had not only been able to finally free himself of the witch's mind control but also destroyed the Philosophers Stone as well.
The battle with Le Fay had not lasted that long however she had cast a very large spell over the city of London and the League along with Etrigan had spent the better half of the night making sure that the spell had no permeant effects on the city and the people who lived there.
"Well that was fun…I am never going to go to a medieval fair again," Flash claimed as he walked down the Javelins ramp.
"Get over it," Batman responded coldly.
The League walked into the control room and Batman booted up the security cameras of the room that they had left Alucard and Morgana's monster army had attacked. The room was filled with dead bodies but there was no sign of the League s vampiric ally.
"Hey...Alucards gone," Flash said.
"No, he's a vampire remember. Therefore he doesn't have a reflection and does not show up on a camera," Batman reminded.
"Oh right...but how do we know he didn't just leave?" Wonder Woman asked.
Batman pressed a few buttons and a layout of the watchtower appeared on the screen with a blinking red dot that was in the same room as the monster corpses.
"What's that?" Flash asked and pointed at the dot on the screen.
"Alucard...I put a tracking device in him," Batman said "as you can see he's still where we left him,"
"Wait...you tagged him?" Flash asked in shock.
"Yes," Batman responded casually.
"Why?" Flash demanded.
"Because he doesn't show up on film...or any kind of camera. If I didn't we'd have no way to track him," Batman claimed.
"Still...it seems wrong," Flash said.
"Flash he agreed to it," Batman claimed "he told me he didn't care,"
The League walked out and made their way to the room that they had sealed earlier. Batman typed in the code and the doors opened, like on the camera bodies were littered everywhere and weapons were spread out all across the floor. In the centre of the room was Alucard, he had his back to the door and was looking at one of the monster corpses.
He stood up as the League entered the room.
"Alucard...are you...you?" Flash asked carefully.
Alucard turned around and faced the League , his eyes were back to their normal yellow colour and his skin looked slightly less pale.
"Your back…did you stop Le Fay?" Alucard asked.
The League breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared whatever had taken hold of Alucard had passed and the vampire was back to normal.
"Yeah we did," Flash said happily "J'onn destroyed the stone too so there is no way that she can try to use it again,"
"Good….what of Etrigan?" Alucard asked noticing that the demon was not with the League .
"He wandered off….he still intends to hunt down Le Fay," Batman answered.
"So the witch escaped then…that is very unfortunate," Alucard said "I have a feeling she will return eventually,"
"Oh good…so it's not just me then," Flash joked.
Alucard turned his attention to J'onn and walked up to him, Batman got ready just encase the vampire decided attack again. Alucard stared into J'onn's eyes; after a few moments of silence the vampire spoke again.
"Your back to normal now...that's good," Alucard said.
"You can tell?" J'onn asked surprised.
Alucard nodded.
"I couldn't before...but now I can yes," Alucard said.
"It appears we are both back to normal now and that is what matters," J'onn claimed.
Alucard looked away.
"Yes I….I apologise for my actions," Alucard apologised sincerely, he then turned to Batman "and for attempting to bite you,"
Batman didn't respond, he merely glared at Alucard.
"Um…Can I ask why you suddenly…" Wonder Woman started but trailed off.
"Go crazy," Flash finished for her.
The demi goddess shot Flash a glare.
"What? He did go crazy," Flash claimed.
"I tasted blood," Alucard said getting their attention.
"I knew I shouldn't have done it and I feared I would lose control..." Alucard said sadly "but I did it anyway,"
"I'm confused...what dose you drinking blood have to do with anything?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Yeah you said you don't need it to survive," Flash agreed.
"I don't but..." Alucard trailed off while looking away from the League .
"But?" Batman asked suspiciously.
Alucard let out a long sigh, he turned and walked over to some nearby containers and sat on them.
"My powers...are heavily dependent on the amount of blood I drink. The more I drink the more powerful I become," Alucard explained.
"That makes some sense," Batman said "but it doesn't answer the question on why you suddenly went berserk,"
"I…I haven't had a drop of blood in over 500yrs...when I woke up I was very weak," Alucard claimed "I still am in comparison to how powerful I was before I went to sleep,"
"I used what little power I had left stalling Hades...after that I had nothing left but my natural healing abilities," Alucard continued.
"What do you mean…little power you had left?" Batman asked.
"If you recall I used Magic during the fight with Hades," Alucard said.
"Of course, thanks to you holding him back I was able to destroy the key and send him back to the underworld," Wonder Woman said.
"What you do not know is that my magical abilities drain my powers and tax my ability to fight the urge to feed….The more magic I use the more likely I am to give into my vampiric urgers," Alucard explained.
"Wait…are you saying you've been powerless since Hades?" Flash asked "but that was months ago,".
"Why didn't you say anything?" Batman demanded.
"Because the only way to restore my powers is to consume fresh blood," Alucard answered "I did not want to do that,"
"Why not?"
"Because...I knew once I did I would be unable to stop myself," Alucard said softly "and I was right,"
"I see…you were starving and craving fresh blood. So much that you could not control yourself," J'onn said
Alucard nodded.
"Yes...my vampire side and my human side are always in conflict with each other," Alucard claimed.
"Conflict?"
"My vampire side…makes me a predator. I have already told you all that like others of my kind I too have the urge to feed endlessly on others... but my human side keeps it at bay and I can ignore it," Alucard explained "However if I go too long without blood that urge becomes harder to ignore and after Hades...it was unbearable,"
"But you still held it back, you never attacked anyone…until now," Batman stated.
"No...I wanted to...I was so hungry and it difficult to resist but I still refused. Then Morgana summoned her demon beasts and I saw that she was going to get the stone...I didn't have the power to stop her so..." Alucard trailed off.
"You fed on those demons," Flash finished.
Alucard nodded.
"I could not stop and I turned on all of you," Alucard finished shamefully "I gave into my blood lust and my vampire side took over…once I had tasted blood…I couldn't resist the urge to feed anymore,"
"But how did you snap out of it," Flash asked.
"The only way I can come out of a blood lust and resuppress those urges…is by feeding until I am satisfied. Or at least my hunger is suppressed," Alucard claimed.
"But you regained control, I saw it," Batman pointed out "You were about to bite me and you fought back,"
"Only for a few moments….I am very surprised I was able to do that," Alucard said "that has never happened before,"
"Will…Will this happen again?" Wonder Woman asked.
"It can yes," Alucard admitted "if I starve myself as much as I did,"
The League stared at Alucard, they could all see the regret and shame in his eyes over what he had done. But they also felt sorry for him, he had done nothing but help them and abide by condition and do everything that they had demanded of him. Yet in turn none of them knew how much he was suffering for it. Alucard was practically starving himself for them because he did not want to be the monster that everyone thought he was.
"Well the solution is simple, if we give you some blood to drink every now and then you can keep you hunger under control," Flash announced.
Alucard snapped his head and looked directly at Flash.
"No I refuse to drink human blood," Alucard declared "Even if you offer it freely I will not take it...I cannot take it,"
"Why not?" Wonder Woman asked "if it will avoid this problem then what is stopping you?"
"Because I made a vow to someone very important to never to drink human blood," Alucard answered "and I have no desire to break it,"
"Superman, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman and Myself are not human. If you take some from us you would not be breaking your promise," J'onn said.
Alucard looked at the League in contemplation; he had never even considered that the League would be willing to offer him their blood. He had expected them to mad, to be scared and to see him for the monster that he was…but instead they were offering him there blood and they were doing so freely.
Alucard thought about the offer and he had to admit that J'onn was right, half the League s were not human and it was not the first time he would have fed on a non-human. After some thought Alucard shook his head.
"I can't...I'm sorry but I can't," Alucard said "It would not be right,"
"But you need the blood," Flash claimed.
"Flash is right, no one was hurt this time but next time we may not be so lucky," Batman said.
"I am not taking anyone's blood," Alucard said firmly.
Batman and Alucard glared at each other, neither one was willing to back down. Alucard certainly could see the benefit of taking a small amount of blood every now and then but he would not compromise his beliefs nor would he ever want to put any of the League in the position where he had to bite them.
He knew that his bites would have adverse effects on the human members of the League and he did not know how it would affect the extra Terrstals. He did not know if there blood would even sustain him like regular human blood would and he had no desire to find out either.
Especially given the fact that Superman and J'onn were the last of their kind. He did not want to be responsible for ending two separate races. Wonder Woman was the daughter of gods, if he fed on her who knows how the gods would react as for Hawkgirl…she hadn't spoken of her life back on her home world but Alucard could see it in her eyes; she had a longing for someone
Weather it was a lover, a child or a family he did not know and he was not going to pry, but just from the way she often looked out to the stars from the Watch Tower Alucard could tell that there was someone waiting for her…maybe even looking for her.
Despite his desire to feed and his need to keep his blood lust at bay, he would not accept any blood from any of the Justice League members; weather they were human or not.
"So if you won't drink human blood…how did you get by before you woke up?" Flash asked, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"I drank the blood of creatures of the night," Alucard answered
"I don't understand" Flash responded.
"Werewolves, Demons, Gorgons….and many others. They were my main source of food," Alucard said.
"Did it work?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Yes, there is no doubt that human blood has the most desirable affect. But blood from those born of the night had almost the same result,"
"Why is that?"
"If you consume the flesh and blood of a monster you turn into one," Alucard stated "Monster Blood can give humans great strength….but at the price of their humanity. I however do not have to pay that price,"
"Because you're already part vampire," Batman said.
"Indeed, I used the monster blood as a substitute when I needed it…and it worked,"
"Although most of the time I consumed human food and only needed a small amount every few weeks," Alucard said "but that was when I was at full strength,"
"But those kinds of monsters your talking about are myths," Batman claimed.
"The same could be said about vampires and here I am," Alucard said "all myths are based on some kind of truth after all,"
"Were there really monsters roaming the earth back then?" Wonder Woman asked.
"They were all over the place, I never went hungry," Alucard claimed.
"But there are no monsters today," Batman stated "how will you keep your blood lust at bay?"
"I could feed off Etrigan," Alucard suggested.
"What?!" the League gasped.
"Do not worry, I do not eat junk food," Alucard chuckled.
Batman did not laugh, none of the League did.
Alucard sighed.
"I admit it will be difficult to keep my vampiric urgers at bay….especially if we face more threats like the ones I have so far," Alucard agreed "I have been looking into this problem since the encounter with Hades and I am confident given time; I will find an adequate solution that will not endanger anyone…nor will it require me to break my vow,"
"How long until you will need to feed again?" Batman asked.
"After all this," Alucard said and gestured to all the corpses of the Le Fay's army "not for a while. If I keep my magic usage to a minimum then perhaps several months…maybe longer,"
Batman nodded, it appeared that they had some time at least. Suddenly Batman remembered what Alucard had said about Thralls.
"What you told us about Thralls…it's not that you don't have the power to turn us into them. You do have it, your simply too weak for it to take any affect," Batman said.
Alucard froze; he had not expected any of the League to figure that out so soon. When Flash had told him Batman was the world's greatest detective clearly he had not been executing.
"You are correct," Alucard agreed.
"Then if you were to drink more blood, would it be safe to assume your charm would start to affect us?" Batman asked.
"Say what you mean," Alucard demanded.
"If we give you blood or you find your own source, your powers will come back and you get stronger right?"
"It will take time and my powers will not return all at once," Alucard claimed.
"So if you do get stronger….what's stopping you from turning us into your thralls?" Batman asked.
"I would never do that," Alucard defended.
"Oh relay, can you turn your charm off then?" Batman asked sceptically "is it something you can concisely control?"
"No, it is a passive power…and I cannot choose who it affects," Alucard admitted.
"But we wouldn't know would we, we would be your slaves and we wouldn't even know we were or that you were turning us into them," Batman accused.
"That would not happen," Alucard assured.
"How do we know that?" Batman demanded
"Because by the time I would be powerful enough for my charm to take affect you and the rest of the League would be immune to it,"
"What….really?" Flash asked.
"Yes, just being around me…even in my weakened state is adding to the time it takes to become immune to my charms. The longer you are around me the more resistant you become," Alucard claimed "If I ever did get back enough power that would cause my vampiric charm to return, by that time it would have no effect on any of you,"
"And you expect us to just believe that?" Batman asked.
"Weather you believe me or not is up to you," Alucard finished "you have right to be weary of me and I have done everything you have asked of me and more…but I had hoped I had gained a little bit of your trust by now…clearly I was mistaken,"
The League glanced at each other awkwardly; they all felt a little guilty. It was true that Alucard had done everything the League had asked and even assisted them on a few occasions.
"Okay…we will respect your wishes for now," Batman sighed "but if a solution is not found by the end of that time we will force you to drink some of ours…weather you want to or not,"
Alucard was going to protest but Batman's tone and the glare he was giving the vampire left no room for argument.
"I…I understand," Alucard said.
"Good," Batman said firmly.
"If there is anything we can do to assist you in your search, you must let us know," J'onn offered.
"There is actually one thing, may I request that I be given something to store the blood in…should I find a solution I would like to have the storage ready as soon as I find it," Alucard claimed.
"Blood bags would be best, there easy to get and we can keep some up here in the watch tower," Batman said.
"Would I be able to see some of these…blood bags as you call them?" Alucard asked "I need to know if they are suitable,"
"We should have some filled ones in the infirmary," Batman stated "but I can bring an empty one for you to look at later,"
"Failing that you could always sterilise a water cooler or some wine bottles," Flash joked.
"Why wine bottles?" Wonder Woman asked.
"In the movies the vampire would pour himself a goblet of red liquid from a bottle. Everyone thought it was wine but it was really blood," Flash explained.
"That is extremely unsanitary and no vampire would ever do that," Alucard said.
"Why not?" J'onn asked.
"Blood needs to be stored in a cool place otherwise it can be contaminated or oxidised," Batman answered if not stored correctly it loses all its plasma and the cells in it die and the blood can no longer be used,"
"It would also taste rather unpleasant with all that dust and other things that have been in the wine bottle before it," Alucard added.
"You can taste all that….even after the bottle was sterilised?" Flash asked.
"Yes, I would also be able to taste whatever was used to sterilise the bottle as well," Alucard claimed "Though I do have one question,"
"Oh what?" Flash responded.
"What is a…water cooler?" Alucard asked.
"Uh…it's…you know what never mind," Flash said "I'll show you later,"
"Of course we will need to discuss this with Superman and the others….and your continued stay in Altaian territory," Batman said.
"I am aware of that, I pray you take my explanation into consideration when deciding," Alucard said "Now if you don't mind I shall return to my Castle,"
Batman nodded and Alucard walked out of the room, once he was out of the League s sight he uttered the words to return to his castle and he disappeared in a pillar of black flames.
Alucard re-appeared in the transport room of Castlevaina, he walked out of the room and down the hall opened a nearby door to reveal at least fifty if not more of the creatures that had attacked the Watch Tower. They were all restrained and hanging upside down from the ceiling by streams of pure darkness.
The creatures snarled and hissed at him as Alucard approached. Alucard raised his left hand and clenched his fist, as soon as he did the darkness binding the creatures tightened and red energy went surged through the darkness into the creatures. They cried out in pain and Alucard watched them with a cold uncaring eyes.
Alucard opened his hand and the red energy stopped, he walked up to the nearest creature and it whimpered as Alucard reached out and placed his hand carefully on the back of the monsters head. He gently tilted its head sightly so he could look see the pain and fear in the creatures' eyes.
"Oh yes, an adequate solution indeed," Alucard grinned evilly.
(1) împinge înapoi – Push Back